The challenge of democratization Filomeno Vieira Lopes (2004) The failure of Angola’s first elections in 1992 and the return to war was exploited to severely limit democratic space and undermine democratic institutions such as an independent press and an active civil society. Ten years later the signing of the Luena Memorandum did little to establish political negotiation and democracy as a means of resolving disputes and sharing power. The government’s political and military victory meant that neither was democratization reinvigorated nor the causes of the conflict addressed, while the ruling elite used the moment to further entrench their position. Filomeno Vieira Lopes argues that neither democratization nor peacebuilding are complete and that civil society initiatives are critical for inducing change.
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